Improved bedstead fastening



lnitrh fates @anni @fitta IMPROVED EDSTEAD FASTENING.

SPECIFICATIN- T0 ALL WHO IT MAY GONCERNz' Be it` known that I, WM. I-I. ELLIOT, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and improved Bedstead Fastening; 4and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters of reference marked thereon. Similar letters of reference indicate the samevdevices in all the figures.

To enable others skilled in the arts to comprehend, make, and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its nature, construct-ion, and operation. l

The nature of my invention consists in cutting a seat for a key in the contiguous surfaces of the mortise and tenen of a bedstead, and in so arranging a seat, socut in relation to the mortise and tenen, that these devices shall serve as a self-tightening bedstead fastening.

Figure 1 is an elevation of a portion of a post and side rail of a bedstead, showing the mortise, tenen, and key by dotted lines.

Figure 2 is an eleva-tion of a portion of a post, showing the mortise and cut or seat'forthe key.

Figure 3 is an elevation of a portion-of a side rail, showing the cutacross the tenon for the key.

a, post; b, side rail; e, key; e, out in the post for tlie key; `e, cut on the tenon for the key; o, shoulder of the tenori; z', open space in the mortise below the tenon. I

The object of my invention is to provide a cheap, durable, and self-tightening fastening for bedsteads which are joined together by the old-fashioned mortise and' tenen.

Fig. 1 represents the post and side rail of an ordinary bedstead, with the addition of a key, c, placed in a cut or seat, which is made partly in the inner surface of the mortise and partly on the side of the tenon, so that when the mortise and tenon are put together, (the tenen being placed as high up in themortise as possible,) the seat for thekey represents a round hole bored down diagonally between the contiguous surfaces of the mortise andtenou.` A l The tenon does not fill the mortise at the lower end, as shown at z', and if a weight were thrown upon the side rail,iwith the key removed, the tenon would be forced down tothe lower end of the mortise, and the open space at would appear above .the tenon; but, with the key in place, the diagonal cut on the tenon would draw the shoulder, o, against the post and thus prevent the side rail from falling, except so far as might be necessary to tighten the joint.

By placing the seat of the key between the contiguous surfaces of the mortise and tenon the strain which is brought upon the key by the tenon is exactly opposite to the point of` resistance offered by the mortise, the tendency of which is to crush the key its entire length at once; but a key which passes through the tenon can only be held by the mortise or post at its extreme ends, and would therefore be Weak in comparison with one which is supported by the mortise through its entire length. A key passing through the tenon, and unsupported by the mortise except at its extreme ends, would either break or bend so as to prevent it from operating as av self-tightening device, as the slightest curve in the pin would so cause it to bind in the tenon that the tenon would not slide down upon it. It therefore becomes necessary, to render it a practical self-tightening device, that the key should be supported at. points opposite to those upon which the strain of the tenon is applied.

When the tenon is raised to the upper part of the mortise, the key should fit loosely in the seat prepared for it, so as to be put in or taken out by the fingers.

There are many modifications of my invention which readily suggest themselves to an experiencedinventor..

I shall therefore not confine myself, in making my claims, to any particular form of the key. I The key I use is round, and I prefer it, because it and the seat for its reception are most cheaply made in that form, and the tools for their construction are kept up with less trouble.

Having described my invention, what I desire to have secured to Vme by Letters Patent ofthe United States, is-

1. Cutting the seat for the key, c, in the contiguous surfaces of the mortise and tenon, substantially as shown and described.

2. The key, c, when placed between the contiguous surfaces ot the mortise and tenon, and supported as v herein shown, in combination with the mortise and tendon, as a self-tightening bedstead fastening, substantially as specified.

WM. H. ELLIOT.

Witnesses:

ANDREW J. LinBENAN, Aue. DILLER. 

